Fired up my laptop last night and after the initial IBM logo it goes to a black screen with a blinking cursor. I have tried to hit f2, f10, and delete to try and access the option to start in safe mode but can't seem to get it to work. Anyone encountered thisproblem?

I was running windows 7. I bought laptop used, so I don't have a disc with windows 7 on it. Any advice?

1/1/2012 12:57:36 PM

How long have you just left it to see if it takes off?

1/1/2012 8:51:05 PM

teh BIOS si b0rkd

1/1/2012 10:14:23 PM

do you have a flash drive or external hard drive plugged in?

1/2/2012 9:59:39 AM

^this

Hit the THINK button after the IBM logo and force it to select your hard drive. F12 might also be the boot selector depending on model.

1/2/2012 12:27:37 PM

So, I totally lost windows. It couldnt find an OS for some reason. I loaded Linux onto a flash drive and loaded from that. Now I am running linux on the laptop, which is good enough since I only use it for writing and browsing.

1/2/2012 7:03:12 PM

oh ok well you could try repairing the boot sector

1/2/2012 9:33:25 PM

And to get into Safe Mode, it is F8, not F2, F10 or Del.

And this is why you don't buy laptops without getting off of the correct disks. It probably has a cracked version of Windows 7 on it anyway. I've seen a lot of laptops on Craigslist that are from 2006 with Windows 7 Ultimate on it, loaded with Photoshop and Office with the person asking $400 for the laptop.

1/3/2012 2:36:49 AM

^I don't trust ANY computer from Craigslist. If I buy one I immediately reload with fresh install of everything. There's no telling what they installed on there that could steal passwords, financial info, etc. I can't think of any software in the world that's worth that kind of risk.

[Edited on January 3, 2012 at 10:59 AM. Reason : also, thinkpads can go directly to safemode & reload a partition from backup from blue think button]

1/3/2012 10:56:11 AM